All posts tagged PepsiCo

Mountain Dew has pulled an ad that at least one expert called “arguably the most racist commercial in history.” The ad, part of a series developed by the rapper Tyler the Creator, features a battered woman, a police lineup, and a talking goat–and goes downhill from there. As the police push the woman to identify a suspect in the lineup–black men played by members of Odd Future, the hip-hop collective led by Tyler the Creator–the goat says intimidating things to the witness like “Ya better not snitch on a playa,” “Keep ya mouth shut” and “snitches get stitches, fool.” The goat also makes the comment “I’ma get out of here and I’ma do you up.” The “do you up,” of course, seems to be a play on the slogan for the beverage: “Dew It.” It also seems to imply that the goat is going to harm or sexually assault the woman. In the headline to an online essay, social commentator Dr. Boyce Watkins called the spot “Arguably the Most Racist Commercial in History.” In other words, Don Draper in 1968 would have realized this ad was racially and sexually insensitive. A representative for PepsiCo said “We apologize for this video and take full responsibility. We have removed it from all Mountain Dew channels and Tyler is removing it from his channels as well.”

In a new marketing ploy to promote its fall TV series, CBS Corp. is inserting thousands of tiny video screens into copies of the Time Inc. publication Entertainment Weekly.

The screens measure two-and-a-quarter inches diagonally and play about 40 minutes of clips from new and old CBS shows. Push one spot on the cardboard insert that holds the screen, and watch a clip of sitcom “Two and a Half Men” or “The Big Bang Theory.” Push another to see a preview of the new crime-investigation spin-off “NCIS: Los Angeles.” Another press delivers an ad for PepsiCo Inc., which is helping fund the promotion. Read More »

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.